tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77778499718798981842017-08-05T16:21:33.859-07:00Morgan AlrethA Campfire Bard. A Teller of Tales.Morgan Alrethnoreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-12709096230190624312017-02-21T12:21:00.000-08:002017-02-21T12:21:01.845-08:00Book 1-3 of The Portals Are WrittenBut I am still trying to find a qualified editor that I can afford. Right now I have about 350k words written with plenty more to add to the series. But I have exhausted my beta reader options and it really looks like I am going to be forced to hire someone. Ouch. Plus the cover art. *sigh*Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-19601634061287196762016-10-25T15:07:00.001-07:002016-10-25T15:07:43.090-07:00Yeah. More free advertising. I've been pirated again. Got another notification today that someone has the first book in my trilogy, <i>Athame</i>, available for download and/or reading online for your viewing convenience. Oh, well. A reader is a reader.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-81323438994953392862016-09-11T16:15:00.000-07:002016-10-07T20:51:08.161-07:00Writing A Good EndingI don't re-read books with depressing endings, or endings that leave me irritated, or frustrated, or simply unsatisfied. Cliff-hangers are acceptable, if I think the author plans to continue the story. But stories where the good guys gets the shaft, or the wrong people end up together, where injustice triumphs and there's nothing anyone can do about it piss me off. This is why I spend so much time and attention on trying to make sure that my books are neither depressing, nor disappointing. Maybe I'm a slave to the happy ending. I can live with that.<br /><br />There's more than enough painful injustice to go around out here in the real world, thank you. When I read a book I am looking to escape. I want someone to tell me a bedtime story about people who overcame obstacles and prevailed, to give me a feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe, some of us out here might be able to to the same thing. At least sometimes.<br /><br />It's not enough to kill the villain, either. Sometimes there isn't a clear villain, and sometimes the so-called heroes are just as bad or worse. There are several books and series where by the time the author is done I, as Twain said, wish that they would all go off and get drowned together.<br /><br />Game of Thrones for instance. Is there anyone in that series who doesn't need hanging besides the children that they like to murder? The writing is well done. The characters are assholes. In&nbsp;Wheel of Time. I couldn't really force myself to cheer for Satan, but I was sorely tempted. By the end of it I wasn't merely wishing that all three of the supposedly godlike heroes would go get drowned, I was wishing someone would come and drown me.<br /><br />Even the Harry Potter series, which is one of my personal favorites, fell into that trap. By the last book the only character I gave a damn about was the little elf guy, Dobby. When he bought it I just skimmed the rest of the book. I continued on long enough to see that Granger did, in fact, let her poor self-esteem drive her into an abusive relationship with Weasley (an appropriate name at least). Then I closed the book and stuck it back on the shelf. Moby Dick is supposed to be a classic, but I will never read it again, that's for sure. My main complaint is that the narrator is the sole survivor. What makes him so special? Would it have killed that blasted whale to turn around and give just one more lousy tail slap? &nbsp;Movies and tv can be just as bad.<br /><br />Granted. Injustice, hypocrisy, cruelty, disloyalty, and plain stupidity happen all the time in real life. I. Don't. Care. I don't like reading about it prevailing.<br /><br />Arthur Conan Doyle's books are true classics, and I have read every one of them multiple times. Louis L'Amour. Robert E. Howard. Rex Stout, Edgar Rice Burroughs. The immortal Terry Pratchett. The even more immortal Mark Twain. These authors wrote books that I cherish and savor. Why? Because after I read one of them I feel better, not worse. I put the book down feeling relaxed, sometimes even refreshed.<br /><br />There's a reason that the Robin Hood stories have been passed down the centuries. He is a victim of injustice, but he doesn't sit on his hands and take it. He kicks ass. There is an equally good reason that the King Arthur legend has stood the test of time. King Arthur dies tragically, but for a time at least, honor and justice ruled the land. It shows a higher standard to reach for, and the legend ends on a note of hope.<br /><br />Not to say that the protagonists in those books are necessarily good people. Many of them are deeply flawed in various ways. A lot of the authors wrote in a time that had a barbaric moral code. But even if their beliefs are politically incorrect by modern standards, all of them had something greater than themselves that they were willing to stand for. And at the end of the book evil is defeated and the backstabbers go down.<br /><br />One thing worthy of note about fan fiction is that people write fan fiction to fix things. Either they think the author screwed something up, or they think the story isn't done, or they want to know what happened about a detail that was left hanging. In other words, the ending was unsatisfying.<br /><br />You have to make people close the book wishing that it was just a little bit longer. Otherwise you have failed as a storyteller.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-55242211283423072642016-08-11T17:19:00.000-07:002016-08-11T17:19:04.004-07:00Songs of Chaos<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XwJzvK5uyMU/U6ZreYw7B9I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/pbnlxFmMRj4haIJqCucYfLVi1HNXVCcpwCPcB/s1600/songs%2Bof%2Bchaos%2Bcover%2Beggshell061214%2Bpurple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XwJzvK5uyMU/U6ZreYw7B9I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/pbnlxFmMRj4haIJqCucYfLVi1HNXVCcpwCPcB/s200/songs%2Bof%2Bchaos%2Bcover%2Beggshell061214%2Bpurple.jpg" width="133" /></a>My first series set in the <i>Portals</i>&nbsp;universe, <i>Songs of Chaos</i>, is proceeding surprisingly well. The first drafts of books 1-3 are undergoing content editing, with book 4 under preliminary construction.<br /><br />Unlike <i>The Unfortunate Woods,</i>&nbsp;my <i>Portals</i>&nbsp;universe will include a selection of free standing books, short stories (possibly), and at least one ongoing series. Originally I had envisioned <i>Songs of Chaos</i>&nbsp;as a single free-standing novel. The problem with that is too many plot lines, too many fascinating characters I wanted to meet and get acquainted with, too much world to wander around in. It finally hit my solid bone head that no one was limiting my choices but me. So I pulled the original book and started re-writing.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Book One - <i>Gathering Thunder</i>&nbsp;</b><br />Tom Forester was old and grieving for his wife, old friends, and years gone by. He decided to make a final visit to the land of his birth before settling down with his family in Michigan to quietly fade away like the old soldier he was. Minor problem. His homeland was on the other side of reality.<br /><br /><b>Book Two - <i>Tempest</i></b><br />When you rip open the underlying the fabric of reality and hurl yourself across the face of the multiverse, unexpected things can happen. It didn't help that the Vianri Council considered unauthorized portal transport a capital crime.<br /><br /><b>Book Three - <i>Eye of the Storm</i></b><br />After fighting free of the nuclear barrenlands, and establishing an alliance with the Vianri Council's two most powerful rivals, Ben and Dar were hoping to get a chance to rest. Fateful words.<br /><i><br /></i><b>Book Four - <i>Backlash</i></b><br />Heat rays and particle beam weapons are impressive, granted. But a nine millimeter still has much to recommend it.<br /><br /><b>Book Five - <i>Battle Lines</i>&nbsp;</b><br />The slavers are going down. If the Vianri want to fight each other over it, that's fine too.<br /><br /><b>Book Six - <i>Crossing Blades</i></b><br />Fifteen thousand years. What were they thinking? They had to know it would come to this someday.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Additional books in the series are possible.&nbsp;</div>Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-74262229467347819172016-08-04T15:42:00.000-07:002016-08-04T15:42:58.882-07:00Talking to the Human HeartAuthors and tv producers need to stay focused on a few basic principles that sometimes seem to get shuffled aside in the excitement. I don't know why. Maybe spending so much time trying to get the plot to work causes folks to lose track of the fact that <b>The_Story_Is_About_The_Character(s)</b>. It isn't about the plot. If the story is about the plot, then what you are writing is a news broadcast. Or a history book.<br /><br />The reader/audience needs to understand the characters. Protagonists need to be sympathetic. The reader/audience doesn't always have to agree with them, they don't even have to like the protagonist. But they have to be able to think 'there but for the grace of my deity goes I'. They need to understand how the protagonist got into this mess, and have a feeling for how they might try to get out of it if it was them. Antagonists need to stay human. They can be vile, miserable spawns of (fill in the blank) but they need to be comprehensible. And it doesn't hurt if they can be made a touch sympathetic too. Like a murdering thief who started snitching bread and fruit from vendors in the marketplace to feed his baby sister, and never learned how to stop stealing. Something like that.<br /><br />What gripes me all out of proportion is when the book's author, or a show's producer, lets the plot dictate that, say, the protagonist must behave in a way that is A) a notable departure from their previously established behavior patterns, and B) yanks my sympathy away and makes me suddenly start to dislike or disdain a character that I had previously started to cheer for.<br /><br />Case in point. A show I watched a while back. It was one of those stockpiled shows where you save up and watch the whole series all at once over snacks. Anyway, there were multiple protagonists. One of them was a woman who had been dragged away from her home and family because of a deus ex machina that doesn't have anything to do with this rant. She had spent two seasons displaying honor, dignity, courage, and loyalty to her people, her family, her husband, and her lost child that she missed terribly. Suddenly, in the third season, she says what the hell and starts sleeping with three different men, telling one of them that the time she spent with her half grown kid was in the past and it was time to move on.<br /><br />Now, there are several things wrong with that. I won't go into all of them. Hopefully anyone reading this will see exactly what I mean, and if you don't I can't help. I watched a few more episodes just to see if maybe she was drugged, or an imposter, or possessed by an alien, or maybe she went crazy from the stress. But no, she was completely sane and cold-blooded.<br /><br />Oddly, the series was canceled after that season. I can't imagine why.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-68481076489885697652016-08-03T22:13:00.000-07:002016-08-03T22:13:50.242-07:00Opening Scene of Book Four in the World of KulhnWorking title = <i>Lertolia</i>&nbsp;(subject to change)<br />No estimated release date yet. It will be done when it's done.<br /><br />Unedited. If typos offend thee, depart now lest my many iniquities wring tears of pain from thy tender sensibilities. But here's the beginning of the new story cycle.<br /><b><br /></b><div class="centeredbold"><b>Lertolian Empire: <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Imperial</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place></b></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The courtier knelt and bowed low until his forehead touched the marble floor. "Oh great and mighty lord, whose surpassing wisdom shines as a beacon into the darkness of our humble-."</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Cut the crap, Rolos," the emperor growled. "It's too blasted early for your mockery. Get your rotted nose up off the floor and deliver the rancid report. Then haul ass down to the kitchen and tell whoever is on duty that if my tea comes up here this cold again, I'm going to personally go down there and boil a few cooks." <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"As you command, oh great and glorious one," the young man bounced to his feet. "The last dispatches from Kulhn came in yesterday, uncle."</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Well, at least this one should be mildly interesting." The emperor yawned and took another bite of toast. "What's the latest east of the mountains?" </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The courtier told him, "It looks like the earth and fire temples are just going to have to eat shit and like it. Lokenberg is still in no shape to tackle a kingdom full of battle trained witches, and Uleirand is too busy bickering with everybody and their sister to coordinate dinner, much less an attack. Aroglin and Sheerlio are doing fine, though. The water temple is rolling in donations, and eight tenths of Kulhn's army follow the air goddess. Tothran is, well, Tothran. King Peteros turned his new general loose and they already own the northern third of the place. King Lonsel is suing for terms and praying that they let him keep his favorite boots." </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"The cursed forest?" The emperor swung his feet to the floor and reached for his robe. </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Reports indicate that Peteros and his enchanting lady..." The kid waited expectantly and his uncle snorted. </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Seriously? His queen is a fire witch and that's the best you can do? I should put you to work herding pigs." The emperor picked up the pillow that he had shoved off in the night and tossed it back on the bed. Then he got up and yawned again before shuffling over to the washstand. "The wash water is only lukewarm. Since Bilina retired this place has gone to the jakes. I am definitely going to vent my wrath on someone. Pass the word." </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The young man looked chagrined. "Sorry, uncle. Anyway, they have seriously depleted the supply of darkhunters all over the kingdom, to the dismay of the temple hardheads who had preached doom and desolation. Even the southern forest is running out of vampires and werewolves. Not completely bare, but getting scarcer. Witch teams are combing the place, along with armored men carrying silver blades, garlic, wolfsbane and stakes."</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"How's the general level of discontent?" the emperor asked. He damped a washcloth and wrung it out. </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Among the common people," his nephew said, "The general attitude seems to approach bliss. They honestly believe that King Peteros is the fulfillment of their ancient prophecy. The average peasant thinks he's the original Agrahain reborn, and in their eyes he can do no wrong. Queen Jessera displayed so much power during the war that they are making up songs about her being an emissary of Hohdwan sent to punish the temples for their arrogance." </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The emperor stopped to stare. "A woman as an emissary of the fire god?" </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The young man took a deep breath. "This is the part I was leading up to. A new heresy is starting to spring up. Some people are saying that the former handmaidens are consecrated to the service of the gods just as much as any priest. Just because they took their collars off and can use their magic now, doesn't make them evil. So there is no reason that a handmaiden can't conduct a religious service." </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">The emperor clapped a hand over his face and dragged it down. "By Duchess Mirood's ox-wide ass. They do love wars, don't they?" </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"There are petitions from the central temples of both Hohdwan and Egainot waiting on your desk, uncle," the kid said apologetically. </div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"Go mislay them somewhere," the emperor said. "I don't care where. Just make sure that they end up in some inappropriate location that will delay their arrival for a day or so. I need time to think."&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText">"As you command, beneficent master," the courtier bowed. "Want me to take the tray as I go?" His uncle gestured impatiently.&nbsp;</div><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-78082415023937548482016-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:002016-07-23T20:00:27.584-07:00Story LengthOne of the disadvantages of submitting a story to someone else for publication is the fact that you are forced to comply with their requirements for length. It can't be longer, or shorter, than they think is appropriate. Or than they need it to be in order to cram it into their publication.<br /><br />This is perfectly understandable, albeit a pain in the rump, when dealing with print media. It costs money to print things.&nbsp;So what you end up with is a publisher telling the author 'edit it down, make it shorter, compact it, trim the fat' and so forth. What they are really saying is 'weaken the story and take out the details, flatten the characters, minimize the world building, and keep the immersion to a minimum because we can't afford to put quality story telling first'. The more you spend on printing, the smaller your profit margin. For the print publishers, the ideal situation would be a one page book that they could sell for $250.<br /><br />But for electronic publications it makes about as much sense as those computer RPGs that still use pen and paper game mechanics.<br /><br />Simultaneously, one of the advantages of writing for self-publication is the ability to let the story set its own length. My latest book is a bit longer than I expected, but not outrageously so. I doubt that a print publisher would touch it, no matter what they thought of the quality of the writing, simply because of the length. Along the same vein, I submitted several short stories a few years ago to some online magazines. Some of them were crap, and I freely admit it. Some of them were pretty good, but they were too long.<br /><br />You see, when I write a science fiction or fantasy story, I like to make sure that the reader has at least a superficial idea of what I'm talking about. So when I describe a place, I don't just say that the character went somewhere imaginary. I say, it had cobblestones, or the roof was slate and leaked a little at the north end, or whatever. This, unfortunately, requires space. The way some editors go on and on, you would have thought they had to pay for pixels at double the price of ink.<br /><br />This is all leading up to me digging out some old stories and looking them over. At least one of them is going back onto the workbench. I still like it. So I'm going to fix it the way I originally intended it to be and publish it here. If no one reads it, so what? At least it will be done.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-15855543450712290132016-07-20T19:16:00.000-07:002016-07-20T19:16:13.549-07:00Weaving A Tapestry From ChainsI'm working on the rewrite of my first "Portals" series novel, titled <i>The Songs of Chaos</i>. Right now I'm in the process of aggravating myself into a state of frustration. The problem is my own lack of ability to make up my mind.<br /><br />Everyone uses a different method to create stories. Some people use a rigid outline. Some people are pantsers. I use a modified systems that kinda sorta splits the difference. I think of a plot as a series of scenes, like links in a chain. Each book consists of at least one main plot, along with supplemental minor plots and supporting scenes that flesh out the story. I read advice from Holly Lisle that suggested this approach when I first got started. But she recommended using index cards and physically sorting them. The idea being, I guess, that having the scenes in front of you all at once would help you keep it all straight.<br /><br />My problem with that? I lose things. I am a slob. My desk has to be seen to be believed. So I do it all on the word processor and keep them sorted by using a different font color for each scene, or each plot, depending on what kind of sorting I am doing.<br /><br />How does this relate to the book I was talking about when I started this rambling? I am using this method on <i>The Songs of Chaos</i>&nbsp;right now. It's working fine. The issue is me. I have a critical conflict point I am developing. I know how it is supposed to go. I know how it will get resolved in general terms. But I CAN'T MAKE UP MY CURSED MIND about the right approach for the protagonist to take. And it's critically important, because how this gets handled will not only affect the rest of the book. It will have repercussion throughout the series.<br /><br />Argh.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-36994638025856864682016-07-16T11:19:00.000-07:002016-07-16T11:19:46.615-07:00Recompense (Book 3 of My Trilogy) Is Live On AmazonPublished the final version last night just about sunrise. New covers for every book in the trilogy. I may tweak the author bio and teasers in the other two books a bit when I have had some more sleep. The only thing left to do now is adapt the layout for Createspace. I have been dreading that and putting it off until all three books were done. Anyway, Recompense is about 50% larger than Wrath. According to my beta readers it's the best work I have ever done, for which I give devout thanks. It was also the most painful work I have ever done. I hope you all like it. I'm going back to bed.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-1866391267378814022016-07-09T16:06:00.002-07:002016-07-09T16:10:29.265-07:00I Am In The Process of Uploading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ssSQR1ztBdQ/V4ElSEhbgHI/AAAAAAAAAu4/XtRMYBDus1AU1La15SwyyKWchsiy8tJrQCKgB/s1600/recompense%2Bfor%2Bkindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ssSQR1ztBdQ/V4ElSEhbgHI/AAAAAAAAAu4/XtRMYBDus1AU1La15SwyyKWchsiy8tJrQCKgB/s200/recompense%2Bfor%2Bkindle.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The cover art for Recompense is now uploaded to Amazon in draft mode, and the description as well. I had to do some re-writing and editing per feedback, but it turned out to make things better. Someone said there's no good writing, only good editing. They were right.<br /><br />As soon as my last reader gets their comments back to me I will finalize and upload the last version. Thankfully. Finishing this trilogy was on my bucket list, even though I do have another one in the same world already started. And I am in the process of finishing a novel in another universe. And I am in the middle of two more short stories. I really want to get this one published and done. It's well past time.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-64649214199439066552016-05-22T23:01:00.003-07:002016-05-22T23:01:27.676-07:00Ready for Beta Reading of Final VersionOh my aching fingers.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-68396921281132922072016-05-14T08:55:00.004-07:002016-05-14T08:55:51.493-07:00Moving AlongYes, I'm still writing. Adding a few last scenes. Reason being, I am leaving a tie-in for the next book, and I want to make sure I do it seamlesssly without leaving a cliffhanger. My intention is to wrap this story up clean, while making sure that there is plenty of room for additional work. Besides, Pete is having fun:)<br /><br />Yes, I have an ending, already written. Yes, I really am almost done. If I could see clearly, and it if the carpal tunnel would ease up, I would have it done already. But it's coming. I swear. Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-18639101024789801502016-04-14T22:15:00.001-07:002016-04-14T22:15:57.851-07:00Once More, I Must AdaptBless their hearts, my daughter and son-in-law care deeply about us. And they want so much for us to enjoy the benefits of modern technology that they are always eager to share the newest advances. As an example, my dear son-in-law sent a gift. Yesterday I received a copy of MS-Windows 10. A second hand laptop, one which will be a massive improvement over the one I am using now, is also on its way complete with a hard drive ready for the new operating system to be installed.<br /><br />*sigh*<br /><br />It came on a USB stick. One of the dinky, skinny ones. about a third the size of the plastic packages that lead for a mechanical pencil is sold in. The specs say that Win 10 requires a 1 ghz processor, 20 gb of drive space, and 2 gb of RAM in order to work. Internet access may be required, depending on what I want to include in the installation.<br /><br />This is not exactly comparable to the 5.25 inch floppies, which actually flopped when you waved them, that MS-DOS came on. As I recall, DOS required 512 kilobytes of RAM, a 4.77 mhz processor, and no hard drive was necessary if you were willing to boot from the floppies themselves. Now MS-Windows come with something called Cortana. I think that's what it is called. It's a built in AI intended to make life easier for us poor foolish mortals who haven't got sense enough to be trusted with direct control of our hardware. Forget zombies. Skynet is practically here.<br /><br />But you have to stay current. Like it or not. My head hurts. Is it possible for a brain to develop arthritis? Once more, into the breach. Or the BSOD, as the case may be.<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-75881811956262011042016-03-31T23:30:00.001-07:002016-04-01T02:09:10.136-07:00How Am I Supposed To React?Yesterday will go down in the family archives as The Great Shirtsleeve Debacle of 2016, the iron pipe notwithstanding. How, oh how can I aspire to achieve truly unique and creative stories when real life continues to throw such improbabilities at me? There is no possible way that any writer could have come up such a situation. Even if they did, no one would dare put it in a book. The utter implausibility of it would shatter immersion like a sledgehammer. Oh, well. Back to the keyboard. Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-48926229248514177252016-03-29T13:28:00.000-07:002016-04-01T02:10:50.892-07:00Content Editing Is Essentially CompleteBarring a few minor tweaks. I may or may not go back and insert a couple of flourishes, but the book is basically written. The line editing is proceding at a reasonable pace, conidering that I am trying to trick myself into spotting errors that got past my blind spot the first time (otherwise I would not have made them). But so far they are all minor. Only a professional proofreader would have spotted most of them.<br /><br />Once my line editing is done, it goes to my main beta editor/QC reader for second level review. Then it hits the virtual presses. There may yet be hope.<br /><br />I suppose averaging about one book a year isn't really shameful. Not burning up the road, for sure. But not actually embarassing for a worn out old fossil.&nbsp; Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-40535365745709795202016-03-11T08:56:00.000-08:002016-04-08T19:29:32.998-07:00Snippet[Redacted]<br /><br /><i>Recompense</i> is approaching publication, and all preview excerpts on this blog have been deleted. However, any confirmed reader who leaves a review for either <i>Athame</i> or <i>Wrath</i> is entitled to a free preview of Part One of <i>Recompense</i>. Just leave a review and send me an email to morganalreth (at) gmail (dot) com with the link, or if you already have reviewed, just end the link. I will return a preview file in either PDF or Kindle format, as preferred.<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-90533835412446310932016-02-28T23:15:00.000-08:002016-02-28T23:15:30.239-08:00Yes. I Am Alive.Yes, work on the book continues. I have been slowed by recent issues with family illnesses (my elderly mother), personal health problems, and laptop computer problems (keyboard&nbsp;+ carbonated beverage = AAAGGGHHH!).<br /><br />However, things are progressing thanks to help from my saintly spouse and dutiful offspring, all of whom took pity on me. Actually, they got tired of my whining, but it works out the same anyway.<br /><br />Sometimes I feel like I am imitating that logic problem where you travel half the distance. Then half the distance again. Then half the distance again. But never quite make it all the way. <br /><br />However, completion is at hand. Unless this new (old backup) laptop bites it also. Fingers crossed. Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-16349800531878019772016-01-22T10:47:00.000-08:002016-04-08T19:29:51.333-07:00Brief SnippetTo prove that I, and <i>Recompense</i>, are still alive:<br /><br />[Redacted]<br /><br /><i>Recompense</i> is approaching publication, and all preview excerpts on this blog have been deleted. However, any confirmed reader who leaves a review for either <i>Athame</i> or <i>Wrath</i> is entitled to a free preview of Part One of <i>Recompense</i>. Just leave a review and send me an email to morganalreth (at) gmail (dot) com with the link, or if you already have reviewed, just end the link. I will return a preview file in either PDF or Kindle format, as preferred.<br /><br />]Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-6441557385787538852016-01-18T19:37:00.001-08:002016-01-18T19:37:35.967-08:00Writing A Character From A Different CultureIt's a challenge that I have always struggled with. A recent example of this situation caught my eye yesterday.<br /><br />I used to write fanfiction, that's how I got started. I still read the stuff. I was reading a story set in the universe of a a sci-fi series with multiple non-human races. Doesn't matter which one. The point is that tv programs produced in the US are written by Americans. No matter what kind of makeup or costume they wrap the actors in, the 'aliens' on shows like that almost always think and act like modern Americans. However, this story was different.<br /><br />This particular fanfic includes an alien character that was forced to make a difficult decision. She married a human, and used genetic engineering to artificially craft a child with him. Her government vehemently disapproved. Her government ordered her to abandon her husband and her baby, and return home to resume service to her people. She obediently left her child behind to be raised by the father, and never looked back. It broke her heart. But she did it because her ethical system considered obedience to authority, and the needs of her people at large, as being greater than anything else.<br /><br />There are human cultures, or that have been, that might have reacted in similar ways. It's just that most Americans bristle by reflex at the concept of that type of submission to authority.&nbsp;This is not the kind of thing that most Americans would do, of either gender. The average American, if faced with that kind of ultimatum, would react in a way somewhere between telling their C.O. to kiss off, or perhaps make a run for it, or even possible murder. Most of us would not consider abandoning our family because the state demanded it. But that does not make it an invalid choice. She had reasons for her decision.<br /><br />It is unusual in the extreme to find a story, or a show, where the aliens actually act un-American, much less alien. Not that this particular situation was really that weird. But it did veer away from the usual fare. Which is one of the main functions of sci-fi. To make the reader stretch their imagination and consider what-if.<br /><br />My fiction has non-human races in it. I haven't dug too deeply into their mental or emotional makeup, because I am uncertain about how to present it. But speculative fiction is even more effective at provoking authors into considering what-ifs.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-69483287878191495922016-01-13T12:39:00.000-08:002016-01-13T12:39:10.937-08:00Repairs And ReorganizationOwning a 'classic' vehicle is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, the nostalgia value is nice, We have had the thing for a lot of years. It's like an old friend. It's also to the point now that it gains value each year instead of losing it, despite needing some body work. Sweet. The downside is maintenance. Right now it is in the garage because some balancing something-or-other on the crankcase pulley went kaput and started eating the main engine belt. Sigh.<br /><br />To get my mind off it, and the ongoing saga of the great plumbing debacle, as well as taking a break from the penultimate phase of editing <i>Recompense</i>, I decided to get back into modding an old game that I like to tinker with. It's still fun to me, and it's old enough that there is plenty of reference material on the net for a self-taught ignoramus like myself.<br /><br />I have already managed to scrounge up a deep contempt for the process of designing software by committee. The company that made this game are long-term industry veterans. They should know what they are doing by now. But the data file system is laid out in such a way as to make inconsistency and inefficiency abound. This cannot have happened as a deliberate design choice by a competent tech. Not possible. This is plainly the result of either a manager who couldn't find their rump, or more likely a design team who was running under the whip due to presure from the bean counters to get the thing out the door in time for deadline no matter what kind of crappy shape it was in.<br /><br />Sigh. Again. At least they labeled everything. More or less.Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-35906872149839978102016-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:002016-01-18T13:29:25.942-08:00It's Hard To PickI am elbow deep in content editing for <i>Recompense</i> right now, and tearing out my hair. The problem is knowing what to carve out. It's not simple. <br /><br />For instance, one review site gave <i>Athame</i> a generally very good review, with the single complaint that I did not include enough background material on the characters and world. Another, a private purchaser, left a good review on Amazon that liked the early part but thought the book got a little too bogged down in detail in the latter half. A writer can't win. What one reader loves will provoke another reader to gripe.<br /><br />The standard so-called wisdom for many years has been that anything which doesn't advance the plot, or add necessary information about a major character, should not be in there. "Murder your darlings", etc. But then you get readers who like to savor the immersion factor and complain that the story feels rushed if you don't toss in a lot of texture. Times are changing also, with the increasing prevalence of electronic books and self-publishing.<br /><br />Big publishing houses that put out large runs of paper books have a vested interest in keeping a book size down as much as possible. Partly to control production costs, partly to minimize losses if it doesn't sell well and they have to take it back for disposal. That doesn't apply to digital media. There are also several recent surveys that show people are tending more and more to prefer longer books. Maybe folks are starting to enjoy immersion more. Or maybe they just want more book for their money, given the tight economy. Or maybe people have always liked long books, and the publishing houses just kept readers on a starvation diet.<br /><br />But by the same token (cliche anyone?) nobody wants to write another Robinson Crusoe. To anyone who hasn't read it, RC was a torturous ordeal to wade through. Verbose does not begin to cover it. It actually doesn't have a real plot as such. It's not actually <i>about</i> anything. Just an endless stream of consciousness plus soapbox for the author's philosophical musings. Thankfully, almost no one reads it anymore. I have no idea why anyone ever did, to tell the truth. It really and truly sucked. No personal offense intended to anyone who loves the piece of crap. <br /><br />I am told that my main flaw as a writer is my tendency to digress away from the main plot into irrelevancy. Hence, I am deeply concerned about making sure that everything left in a book is clearly relevant to the book, with the possible exception of minor foreshadowing that will be left as hooks for the next story in a series. But what to cut? Which darling do I murder? Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-44864542507474757842015-12-20T21:22:00.001-08:002015-12-20T21:22:37.482-08:00Doesn't Look Like I Am Going To Make DeadlineI wanted to get this done by Christmas really, really badly. Unfortunately, I have been diverted by yet more vehicle trouble, and another plumbing leak in this old house. Among other things. All I can do is apologize and say that <i>Recompense</i> is 98-99% written, and the editing is about a third done.<br /><br />Drat. I <i>really</i> wanted to finish it by Christmas. But I refuse to put out crap.<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-20366561363059328572015-12-16T13:25:00.004-08:002015-12-16T13:25:42.373-08:00Content EditingPruning. Rewriting. More pruning. Compacting. Rectifying inconsistencies. More pruning. Smoothing rough spots. More pruning.<br /><br />Argh! I need more coffee!<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-92154070447623487242015-12-14T01:15:00.002-08:002015-12-20T21:18:17.658-08:00Still Crawling Forward + A Minor RantWord count for <i>Recompense</i> is now up to 271,200. I need to pull back and exercise some self-discipline. I intend to start a new trilogy, or at least add more books to the series anyway, so there's no point in trying to write it all at once.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I am trying to make sure that my characters maintain consistency, and remain at least halfway believable. This is the foundation for today's rant.<br /><br />I was watching <i>Grimm</i> last week, the last episode before it goes on Christmas break. I am wavering on whether to even bother picking up the show again after the first of the year. The wildly unlikely personal interactions and behaviors are getting painful to watch.<br /><br />It's not like this is new knowledge. Every speculative fiction writer. I mean <b>every</b> speculative fiction writer knows that the more improbable the setting is, the more realistic everything else has to be. Otherwise people will snort and turn to something else. You have to make your characters REAL. You have to make your characters someone that the reader/audience will give a rat's backside about. Like them or hate them, they have to ring true to life. <br /><br />Once again I say, as I have said so often before, that every story at its most basic heart is simply a case of 'once upon a time something happened to someone and this is what came of it'. Stories are about the characters, and what happens to them, and how they react to what happens to them. Without interesting characters that the reader/audience/listener can identify with, all you are doing is writing a dry recitation of events. Rather like a newspaper article.<br /><br />Either that, or you are writing a (grimace) literary work. Which means that you are not really telling a story at all, just spewing out some verbal self-indulgence all over the page.<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777849971879898184.post-47761549943541825102015-12-11T22:03:00.001-08:002015-12-11T22:03:25.481-08:00UpdateFinal climax draweth nigh. Currently at 265,351 words, but that is after I did some heavy pruning of unnecessary dialog. The trigger confrontation for the final showdown is done.<br /><br />Morgan Alrethhttps://plus.google.com/109172366661114652681noreply@blogger.com